Karl Bang's paintings are unique because he combines totally different styles of painting within the same format. It is very difficult to design a balanced composition with realistic elements that are juxtaposed with flat colors and patterns. The faces of his subjects are painted realistically in the Western tradition with subtle gradations of color; while, his figures and costumes vignette into abstracted shapes, lines, flat colors and patterns that reflect Karl's background in China. It is as though there are different visual languages being spoken within his paintings.

A Maasai man in ceremonial dress poses for visitors to take photographs of him in front of one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National Park, Kenya Thursday, April 28, 2016. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has stacked 105 tons of ivory consisting of 16,000 tusks, and 1 ton of rhino horn, from stockpiles around the country, in preparation for it to be torched on Saturday to encourage global efforts to help stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Stagecoach tests the amphibious bus, on the River Clyde on February 9, 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Ј700,000 Dutch made amfibus could eventually replace the existing ferry service which is being scraped in March due to costs. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Photographer Joana Choumali’s latest project explores body image and beauty by documenting the men building Abidjan’s clothing models. The “Awoulaba” mannequin is a customised model designed with the African ideal of beauty in mind, curvier than the stick-thin examples usually seen in the west. They first appeared in 2011, and have since become a familiar sight outside the numerous clothing shops dotted throughout Ivory Coast’s capital, Abidjan. Here: An apprentice lines up his work on a roadside. (Photo by Joana Choumali)

Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg's 'Stranger Visions', comprising of 3D printed faces extracted from DNA taken from discarded cigarette butts and chewing gum, is displayed at the Big Bang Data exhibition at Somerset House on December 2, 2015 in London, England. The show highlights the data explosion that's radically transforming our lives. It opens on December 3, 2015 and runs until February 28, 2016 at Somerset House. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for Somerset House)

A boy works on a car in Babi Kouakou's car repair garage in Bouake, Ivory Coast February 9, 2016. Babi specialises in restoring old cars. (Photo by Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters)

A woman watches rescue operations after a bus and a truck crashed on the road that links the Honduran capital with the south of the country, near Germania, 11 km south of Tegucigalpa on February 5, 2017. At least 12 people were killed and 35 injured of some 70 who were on board the bus. (Photo by Orlando Sierra/AFP Photo)